Starks rescues West Aurora for consolation crown

PONTIAC - Juwan Starks was the savior once again for West Aurora.

After squandering several double-digit leads against Oak Park-River Forest in the consolation championship of the Pontiac Holiday Tournament on Wednesday evening, the Blackhawks' prized freshman did what few of his teammates were able to: convert free throws.

West Aurora misfired on 14 of 35 attempts, but Starks' 9-for-9 performance - including 4 straight in the final 20 seconds - enabled the Blackhawks to escape with a 52-46 victory.

For the third time in four games at the tournament the freshman was the leading scorer, and his 17-point performance saved the day for the Blackhawks, who won three in a row after dropping an opening-round game to Simeon.

"I don't know what to say," Starks said. "I didn't even know I was going to be playing (varsity) this season. I thought I might practice with them and play JV."

"I already knew Juwan was a good player coming out of eighth grade," said senior guard Markus Cocroft, who hit two first-half 3-pointers and created a firestorm of difficulty for the Huskies' offense.

"We couldn't knock (our free throws in), but we started making them when we really needed to."

The Blackhawks (8-4) limited Oak Park to 2 field goals in the opening half in taking a 24-12 lead, and West Aurora was still comfortably ahead after withstanding several second-half Oak Park runs.

But the Huskies' 44-32 deficit with less than four minutes to play became a one-possession game when Oak Park (9-5) went on a 9-0 binge culminated by a De'Angelo Speech steal and score.

Oak Park was still within striking distance when the Blackhawks' Malcolm Graham and Jamal Blackmond had split trips to the line.

The lead was still precarious, but Starks' 4 straight, the first 2 after an intentional foul with 19.4 seconds to play, enabled West Aurora to escape.

"We played good enough to win," said West Aurora coach Gordie Kerkman. "(Starks) is a pretty sharp kid. He acted like a veteran all summer long."

"I was very shocked by (Starks') ability, especially his ability to finish around the rim," Oak Park coach Matt Maloney said.